Posters - Who set the rules

Who set the rules?

As a part of an academic project, I created a series of posters inspired by Modernism and Post Modernism Art Movements to tell the story of the communities that challenge the norms of the existing social structure.

We tend to naturalize predominant systems of organization of the society, rendering a critical evaluation of the status quo impossible, and delegitimizing a range of alternative possibilities. The existence of the communities that I am discussing serves as startling examples to question the hegemony of our existing legal and cultural codes. It should prompt us to question what we validate as innate, 'natural' human nature and societies, and how we validate the same. This also lies at the core of many ongoing inclusivity debates, the most obvious example being that of the LGBTQ community. These posters would help them to appreciate and learn from the cultural differences instead of despising and treating them as outcasts.

Nayars of Kerala

The poster itself is a question to the existing framework of the general social structure of the society - “Is it natural to define a family where spouses owe lifelong union and cohabitation to each other? Then what of the Nayars of Kerala?”
The graphic is centered around the portrait of a typical Nayar woman as they are the face of a matrilineal system of their society, which sets them apart. The typography is used along with a roadmap which is a visual metaphor for a “natural” mindset of the societies in general in the eye of the public. The signs like “one way” are mocking the linear thinking of the predominant systems of the society. Moreover, these signs also guide the eye for reading the text. The winding brushstroke paths in yellow represent the alternate routes for thinking in a social structure.

Sioux Indians of South Dakota

The poster itself is a question to the existing framework of the general social structure of the society - “Is it natural to package knowledge in an achievement-oriented way? Then what of the Sioux Indians of South Dakota?”
The graphic is centered around the portrait of a Sioux Indian as they are the face of the knowledge acquisition culture that sets them apart. The typography is used along with a roadmap which is a visual metaphor for a “natural” mindset of the societies in general in the eye of the public. The signs like “one way” are mocking the linear thinking of the predominant systems of the society. Moreover, these signs also guide the eye for reading the text. The Sioux consider it culturally inappropriate to answer a question in the presence of others who do not know the answer as they see it as a sign of arrogance and show-off of knowledge. Other people may view it as resistance or ignorance, however. The border is made up of simple graphics of raised hands (a visual metaphor for response) with fingers also bearing similarity to a graph of growth. On the other hand, the two plaits (the common visual identity of their society) go criss-cross in a counter direction.

Yoruba of Africa

The poster itself is a question to the existing framework of the general social structure of the society - “Is it natural to have gender as the defining axis of the organization? Then what of the Yoruba of Africa?”
The type of heavy poster plays with the placement and texture to visually express the message. I’ve tried to play with the kinetic energy of the composition where the question falls heavily (action) to make splashes of words (she/he for gender) rise as a reaction to it - a visual metaphor to disrupt the so-called “naturalized” systems.

Nuer of Africa

The poster itself is a question to the existing framework of the general social structure of the society - “Is it natural for a society to be a state? Then what of the Nuer of Africa?” The type of heavy poster plays with the placement and texture to visually express the message.
The center composition is made up of the dotted patterns (scar patterns on the bodies of the Nuer people) that culturally represents the people of the Nuer society. The pattern forms a pyramid to represent hierarchy and concentration of power at the top, but the question phrase pushes against it from both sides so that it again erupts into the same pattern that represents the masses. The setting of the type “FOR A….” from bottom to top and the very absence of the word “STATE” at the top further reinforces their idea of running a society where decisions are taken by the public and there is no head/chief.

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